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Suddenly, there are capybaras all over Toronto

Is it a raccoon? A beaver? A groundhog? Or … gasp! Could it be a capybara?

People all over the city have taken to social media to report suspected sightings in an attempt to help bring home two rodent fugitives that escaped High Park Zoo on Tuesday.

The city’s 311 phone line has received hundreds of calls reporting capybara sightings, said Megan Price, spokesperson for Toronto’s parks, forestry and recreation division. Unfortunately, it appears many people have confused the escapees, the world’s largest rodents, with similarly shaped groundhogs or beavers.

High Park Zoo has also had reports of capybara sightings from all over the city, but as of Sunday, the zoo reported in a Facebook post that “parks staff are continuing to follow up on sightings of the Capybara,” with no word on any confirmation.

On Sunday tweets suggested the capybaras had been sighted as much as 10 kilometres north of High Park, near Highway 401.

While the hunt continues, with the hashtag #capybarawatch, here’s a roundup of some tweets reporting capybara sightings and some humorous posts about the rodents.

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